


the Radiant Dawn

by SoyaCat



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, F/M, Fluff, Inner Struggle, Old Lore, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-05-18 12:50:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5929090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoyaCat/pseuds/SoyaCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Rakkor tribe is an unforgiving place for any child. It's a constant fight to live on Mount Targon and only the fittest are allowed to survive. Leona was trained, as a child, to enjoy war and fighting but she never grew to love it as much as her other peers. But as the Rite of Korr approaches in her sixteenth year her struggle with her ideals becomes very real. (I'm using the older Lore not the new one)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: the Radiant Dawn

"Leona! It's cold, you must wear your cloak correctly or you are going to freeze," her mother told her as she closed the clasps of her cloak. "Leona, are you listening to me?" Her mother sighed, looking at her daughter, whose eyes were trained on the sky above. 

The child furrowed her brow, feeling somewhat strange. 

Her mother had always talked about the constant cold but she had never felt it as much as she described. Despite the biting winds that howled through the village she was always quite warm.

“Leona.” Her mother’s voice held warning as she finally looked down at her mother’s concerned face and frowned.

“But Ma,” she protested, “I don’t feel cold. I don’t understand why I have to wear something like this.” She tugged tightly on the inside of her cloak. It was made of a thick hide with soft fur lining the inside of the coat. It was heavy and it restricted her movements. She didn’t like it one bit.

Her mother sighed, “I don’t want you to get sick,” she began, “I’m used to this cold. You however, are not, understand?”

Leona’s frown didn’t move from her face; instead, she pointed a finger at some patrolling guards. “Are they used to the cold as well? I don’t want to wear this!” She whined. “I want to wear that!” Leona pointed at the guard’s uniform. 

Her mother chuckled and brushed some stray red hairs away from her face. “You need to train to earn that kind of armor, my child. You have just begun your training and your exercises.”

Leona furrowed her brow and shifted in her warm coat. “But I want to wear it now!” She pouted, “I’m old enough. I can fight! I’ve fought nearly all the boys in the village!”

“Oh, I know you have.” Her mother laughed softly. “But you are only four, my dear child, one day you will be able to wear that armor, but as for now you are to wear _this_ kind of armor. It will protect you from the cold.” She flipped the hood up onto the child’s head and then adjusted the cloak on her small body.

Leona looked on at the guards before trying to drag her mother over so that she could get a better look. “Can I go see?” She tugged her mother’s sleeve.

“Perhaps, another time, child.” Her mother smiled gently before a great horn rang through the village. Leona had always heard the horn every year and she knew what it meant. Leona frowned again.

“Do I have to go this time, Ma?” Leona tugged at her mother again. Her mother looked down at her and swooped her up in single motion and smiled.

“Yes, love, you do. You must learn what it means to be part of the village.” She said as she started to walk towards the arena. Leona looked at the barred fence, the jagged iron pillars and felt her stomach turn into knots. She hated this time of year and she had hoped that the village elders would forget this year.

“I don’t want to see it.” She admitted quietly. Her mother gave her a stern look which made her shrink into her mother’s shoulder.

“Leona, one day you will not have me or your father; one day you will have to fight for yourself. You must learn while you can. Do you understand? The Rite of Korr is an essential path every warrior must take. One day you will understand.”

“What does essential mean?”

Her mother adjusted her grip and pushed back her red hair, knocking down her hood. She could hear the loud sounds of the cheering in the back but she kept her eyes on her mother waiting for her explanation.

“Essential means something that it is very important.” She answered, gently smiling.

“Did you do it then?” Leona asked craning her neck to see the first couple contestants.

“Yes, child, I did.”

Leona’s eyebrows furrowed once again. “Why do we have to do this?”

Her mother was quiet for a moment and in that moment Leona thought she had won the argument. But when she looked at her mother with her victorious eyes she was met with ones that were sad. She couldn’t comprehend what it was or what had made her so sad but Leona turned her gaze and looked over at the arena just as the elder yelled to begin the fight.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leona turns seven and is finally able to join formal Rakkor Training.

Leona was seven. She was finally seven which meant that she would be leaving home to train to be a proper warrior. They were going to teach her how to fight properly like one of them. It was all she wanted to be.

The image of the Rakkor warriors with their armor, spears and shields excited her. She wanted to be just like them one day. She had watched the Rite for seven years now, and it didn’t seem too bad. The more she fought the more she liked the feeling of standing on top of a boy who had been taunting her moments ago.

It couldn’t be more different than that, she thought.

Leona pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She didn’t have to worry about that; sixteen was a long way to go. She was going away to learn how to fight and she couldn’t be more excited.

The boys she had fought tended to punch and shove while she tended to pull, scratch, and grab. She lost a lot of fights that way, but still won many fights as well. Her mother said it was because she was fast. 

“Ready for you first day?” Her mother pulled her out of her thoughts and held a cloak in her hand. “You won’t be needing this.”

Leona smiled brightly, more than happy to finally rid herself of her the thick furred cloak. There was nothing to restrict her now. She would be faster, light as a feather.

“I hope you’re ready. We won’t be seeing you for a long time.” Her father crossed his arms, a proud smile pulling onto his face. Her mother, on the other hand, had a more serious expression. Her lips were pressed thinly into a small smile. Her mother only smiled like that when she didn’t like something.

Her father laid his hand on her shoulder and looked at her expectantly. “Remember what I’ve taught you.”

“Never retreat. Never surrender, honor and patience,” she listed the words easily. The words had been drilled in her head every time she had made a mistake of doing something too fast, or when she wanted to give up.

Her father ruffled her hair. “Good,” he said in a quietly. “Training is not going to be easy. But we know you can do it, Leona. You’re fighter. Just remember what we taught you. Remember my words. Say them again.”

“Never retreat. Never surrender. Honor and patience.” They said together. Her father messed up her hair again.

Her mother knelt and kissed the top of her head. “Be careful out there. You hear me?” Her mother’s voice slightly shook as she adjusted her tunic. Leona could see hesitation in her mother’s actions as she pulled down the sleeves over her wrists and slowly adjusted her shirt.

Leona had begun squirming with impatience as her mother moved to fixing her leggings. Her mother softly laughed and tucked some hair behind Leona’s ears.

“Alight, alright, off you go then.” Leona felt her mother give her tight squeeze and as Leona started towards the door she heard her mother call her back. “I love you, Leona.”

Leona glanced back, smiling. “I love you, Mom and Dad.”

She burst from her home and out into the snow with the warmth of her home still clinging to her. She ran to the training grounds and found that even though she was moving her joints had stiffened considerably and that her teeth had begun to chatter.

She stiffened her jaw and forced herself to stop as she approached a group of other children like her. They huddled around each other to keep warm and Leona did the same. She squeezed herself in and looked around. She knew all of them. Some of them she had beaten and others had beaten her.

Leona could hear them murmuring with anticipation and nervousness. All Leona had ever heard was that training was going to be hard, but no one would ever tell that what the training consisted of. That made Leona a little anxious but it couldn’t be so terrible, right? She found herself fidgeting. 

She rubbed her arms in a feeble attempt to warm them. 

“What do you think we’ll learn?” She heard one of the girls ask. Leona could hear her voice shake slightly from shivering. 

“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll get out of this cold.” It was a boy this time and most of them snorted at the remark, even Leona. She had not come out here just to get out of this cold. She was going to be like her mother, she was going to be like the Rakorr warriors. She was going to brave this cold.

 “Trainees!”

They looked up and saw a man lightly jogging towards them, leading a small group behind him. It took no time for all of them to stop in front of the children. Leona felt her chest slightly tighten as she looked at all of them.

They all dressed in the traditional armor: a breastplate, a leather belt, leather straps that hung loosely over their thighs, and a navy blue cloak that stretched to the feet.  The only difference, it seemed, was the colour of their tunics under their armor.

Leona eyes were trained on one female warrior standing at the front. She had dark brown hair that was loosely braided, her body slightly scarred from either training or battle. Her eyes were steeled and tough. She looked like she could beat anyone who got in her way.

That was going to be her one day, Leona thought.

“My name is Captain Jagen, and you will address me as ‘Captain’ or ‘sir.” He introduced shortly. He was the same as the others, but his tunic was white. His hair was cropped short and he looked like Leona’s father, though not quite as old.

“These are my men,” he continued. “They will be your instructors. You will listen to us at all times, and you will do as you are told. Am I understood?” 

Their staggered answers made his frown deepen. His jaw tightened. “I asked you a question, trainees,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “You will answer at once, as one and you will answer ‘yes, sir’. So I ask you again: am – I – understood?”

The stammered, “Y-yes, sir!” they shouted. 

Leona didn’t quite understand what this was about. They were just supposed to train her to fight. She was supposed to wrestle down with a partner like she and her father did. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

“Get into lines, now! I want five rows of ten!” He barked loudly. Leona flinched. “Now! _Move!_ ”

They tried to get into place without bumping into one another but it didn’t seem to work. Their instructors quickly descended onto them, revealing long staffs in their hands. They shoved them and used their staffs to hit them into place.

Leona quickly moved, pushing past some of the children before she felt a sharp pain spike up her back. She whirled around and saw one of the instructors, staff in hand.

“We don’t have all day, move it!” He snapped at her. She glared at him. She _had_ been moving, until he had hit her. She had done nothing to deserve her punishment. This was unfair and he knew it. The instructor eyed her and raised his staff.

Leona braced herself and narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t afraid; only little kids were afraid. 

It took a second before she felt a stinging pain shoot up her face as she fell into the snow. The cold bit into the palms of her hands as she fell onto the ground.

“Get with it. We don’t have time to play.”

Leona steadily got up and snarled at the instructor who had hit her. Never surrender, never retreat, that’s what her father had taught her.

They weren’t supposed to hit them. They were supposed to train them to become warriors.

Her frame shook in the cold but she dared not chatter her teeth. The instructor didn’t miss a beat. He gripped her shoulder roughly and shoved her forward.

“We have one, Captain.”

The captain strode towards her and grabbed her. She ripped her arm away, unsure what was happening. They weren’t allowed to hit her. Surely, she wasn’t supposed to be the one in trouble. The captain looked at her, his eyes black and cold as if they could absorb everything he saw.

She immediately wanted to shrink away.  Everything seemed colder and when he grabbed her the second time she felt him drag her forward. She was handed over to another instructor.

“Take three paces forward, trainees.” She heard the captain behind her order. She heard the others shuffle forward but as she turned she felt a wooden pillar slam into her chest. Rough ropes were tightly tied around her wrists. Leona hissed and looked at the instructors in front of her.

“What’s going to happen?” She asked but they didn’t answer her. Whatever it was, Leona could feel in her stomach that it wasn’t going to be good. Her gut knotted and she grunted, fighting against the thick ropes, hoping to slip out of them, but she couldn’t.

Leona pulled against the pillar, hoping to maybe loosen it from the ground, but she knew it was going to be impossible. Leona’s eyes flickered frantically from one face to the other. She couldn’t tell if she was shaking because she was scared or if she was now extremely cold. What was happening? Her heart raced, threatening to come out of her mouth.

She heard Captain Jagen’s voice. “I am here to prepare you for the Rite of Korr which will take place in your sixteenth year. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Rite.  And because I am preparing you for combat I will not tolerate any disobedience.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Leona protested, instantly, but she was ignored. She hadn’t disobeyed anything! She had been getting in line like everyone else. She was doing what she was told. There was no reason why she was going to be punished.

Leona craned her neck over her shoulder and tried to see the captain but her hair was in the way and she couldn’t see. What was going to happen? Her hands gripped tightly together, nervously.

She could hardly see the captain behind her but suddenly he was next to her. “Don’t scream and don’t move.” His voice was even.

There was no warning after that. She felt a strike on her back. Leona flinched away from the sting that spiked up her body. She grunted and clenched her teeth together.

Never surrender. Never retreat. Honor and patience. Leona repeated in her mind feeling tears burn at the back of her eyes. It was only moments ago she had felt so excited to be here, but now all she wanted to do was go home.

As the second blow came she gasped and when she tried to move away she felt the other instructors grip her in place.  She squirmed and fought, wanting to sob and scream. Tears blurred her vision as the pain spread through her body. Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her.

 Don’t make a sound, Leona told herself as she gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face.

“Punishment for disobedience is four lashes, no more, no less.” The third strike came down with a thick _thwak_. She whimpered wanting to move away again but found it impossible. Her back felt like it was on fire. Tears streamed from her face from the pain.

And as the final strike landed on her back, her toes curled, and her fingers dug deep into her skin forming welts. Leona cringed, wanting to scream and cry. She wanted her mother to come and pick her up and tell her it was going to be okay, like after the fights she lost. But instead she hissed loudly and bit back a sob.

 “Good.” The captain cut her ropes and handed her off to one of the instructors who helped her stagger into the last row. The boy next to her offered a sympathetic look. She felt the back of her tunic skim the skin on her back and it made her flinch. Her back, felt like it was on fire and everything that touched it stung.

“The Rakkor warriors know no pain, remember that.” The captain paused and paced in front of them. Leona sniffled and wiped the tears from her face as the cold began to set in again. It was only a small comfort to her stinging back but it was not a comfort to her. She shivered like the rest of the children. Leona wanted to warm herself but their arms were forced at their sides.

One girl tried to rub her arms but the instructors slapped her hands away.

“I will train you to be the best.  But I must have all your co-operation. Now, first thing is first. We need to get your body up to physical standards. Jump squats, fifty! If one person gives up, I’ll make everyone do double!”

Everyone was quick to follow but Leona had to muster her strength to follow the instructor’s motions. She wasn’t half way to fifty when her legs felt too heavy to lift or bend. Her thighs burned and her knees were ready to buckle under her own weight.

“…48 – 49 – 50. Sit ups, next! Fifty!”

Leona had seconds to throw herself onto the floor. A sharp searing pain followed that made her wince but when she moved to get up she saw an instructor stride towards her. Leona fell onto the floor, pushed the pain to the furthest place in her mind and began to follow, hissing.

 Legs lifts were next, then lunges, and then jumping jacks. Her body trembled and moved sluggishly as sweat dripped down, stinging the welts that had formed on her back.

She wanted to go home and so did the others. Leona could see it in their faces. Set after set, they wanted to take a break but if they stopped they would be beaten. One boy had refused to do another set and was knocked down and slugged in the gut. He doubled over and then got up to follow the rest of them.

Running was next, led by the captain himself they ran a route, around the camp then around the Rite arena.

Leona could only stumble forward as they looped around the camp and the arena again. Never surrender. Never retreat. Honor and patience, she gasped the words in her mind.

She could feel the saliva turn thick in her mouth, her lungs felt dry and everything felt too heavy to lift. Sweat matted her head and rained down and when it touched her back she felt a steady burning pain that made her want to cry again. She could only imagine the welts and bruises that had formed. She never wanted to go through that again.

When they finally stopped back at where they started, Leona fell onto her knees, gasping for breath, heaving in gulp after gulp of the freezing cold air. A small gust of wind blew past them and it reminded her how cold she really was. She shivered violently.

She heard somebody throw up a small distance away from her as they all wheezed in air into their lungs. Her muscles ached, her back was sore, and she couldn’t feel her legs. As she fell onto her back she flinched, grunted and rolled onto her stomach immediately.

The cold snow pressed against her skin and it stung but she couldn’t get up. Her body wouldn’t let her; rolling over seemed to have drained the last of her energy.

“Let’s take a break! Give them water!” The captain shouted over them and by the sound of it, it didn’t seem like he had broken into a sweat. But still, she couldn’t have heard sweeter words.

She made a lame attempt to warm herself by rubbing her hands on her arms when she felt two strong hands lift her from her into a sitting position. She turned and then felt a warm fur wrap around her body.

“Rub the chest, the arms will warm themselves.” The instructor told her and handed her a waterskin. She snatched it immediately from his hands, flicked the cap off and chugged it down. She could feel the water dribbling down her chin as the warmth of the fur engulfed her.

When she was finished she rubbed her chest and looked at the instructor who took the waterskin from her and walked off.

Leona stared at his retreating back and wondering if this was what she really wanted to be. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind again and concentrated on warming up.

She would become stronger. She had to.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

When her father had told her that training would be tough, she had thought she would be able to handle it, but now she was questioning herself. Her whole body ached and when the Captain had told them to rest she'd been more than happy to sit down with her fur. But not five minutes later they were told to form back up to go to for a short march. 

She didn't understand why Captain Jagen had said that it was 'short' because it had turned out to be five miles  _up_  Mount Targon, or so she'd overheard. She felt as though air was escaping her lungs more than it was entering them. 

The climb was steep and though she was grateful of the cloak it weighed her down considerably. Her thighs burned and she could feel the insides of her shoes rub against her blisters from the run. But the further she climbed the more she learned to ignore the pain in her feet and back. 

Leona was ready to give up, but she had seen some instructors shoving forward anyone who even hinted at a pause so she kept going through the burn. She didn't exactly like the idea of being pushed around at this height. 

However, when she heard distant shouts and saw an outline of a cave she felt her tired body move forward with curiosity and excitement. 

Leona tightened her hold on her fur and looked around when they entered. It was much,  _much,_ larger than she had ever thought it would be. The cave seemed to stretch on for miles and the ceiling towered over even the largest warrior in the cave. 

It was warm, thanks to the torches lining the wall and the large fire pits that were placed at every mile until the cave ended. At the very right of the cave she noticed a rushing stream that reflected the pouring sunlight coming in through a hole in the ceiling. 

Multiple weapons racks lined the opposite walls and they held everything from simple daggers to the largest axes, spears and swords. 

Leona couldn't help but stare and wonder which weapon she would be using in, maybe, five years' time. 

As they moved towards the center of the cave, Leona noticed a ring, encircled by small stones, torches and a roughly etched line. There were already two women inside, wrestling. Leona quickly saw that one was smaller than the other by a considerable amount. 

The smaller one had the larger warrior in a hold, and with a quick motion the smaller warrior's knee came up and smashed into the larger warrior's nose and shoved her to the floor. 

The large warrior held her face, rolled onto her back and laughed, shaking her head. Leona watched intently as the small warrior pulled the other up. Blood poured over her face, dripping messily over her tunic and the ground. Leona winced. 

Why was she laughing? Didn't that hurt? Leona felt unease creep into her gut. She didn't know if she could spar like that and laugh at the end. Not if her friend's nose was bleeding. 

"Welcome to this sacred cave. This is where you will be spending the rest of your life, training and sparring if you make it past the Rite." Jagen's voice echoed loudly, catching the attention of the some of the warriors around them. "For now, I will pair you up with an instructor. They will teach you how to fight: hand to hand, and with weapons. And at the very end of the week, you will get into this ring-" he pointed next to him "-and you will fight each other." 

"Every day, I will drill you from morning to noon, and then your instructors will take over," Jagen stated and then narrowed his eyes. "I will say this once, disobedience is not an option. You want to run home to your mommy and daddy? Then you might as well leave the tribe and never come back." 

Leona gripped her hands into small fists. No matter what happened, she wasn't going to run now. She had been beaten and she wasn't going to just let that go to waste. 

Never surrender. Never retreat. She knit her brows down with determination and looked back at the Captain who was still surveying them. When no one moved, he nodded. 

"Very well." He paused and then continued. "The instructors you are paired with, you will stay with them at all times after drills. You will eat with them, train with them, and followed them. This is so that you learn our ways from them. Understood?" 

"Yes, sir" Their answer echoed off the walls of the cave. Jagen's lips curled into a small smile, but it was soon gone when he started to pair them with instructors, starting from the front. When they were paired off, the instructors quickly took the children away. 

Leona, being in the back line, was one of the last to be paired so she could guess who would be her instructor. It was the one she had noticed hours ago: the girl with the loose brown braid. Upon closer inspection, Leona noticed the freckles that spotted her face and a scar that started from her hairline and ended at her eyebrow. 

"Astraia, you're with the rebel." She could hear Jagen's mocking tone. Leona frowned but dared not say anything. She wasn't going to be beaten because of a 'smart' answer. But still, she had done nothing to rebel, she didn't deserve the title. 

"Yes, Captain," was her instructor's only reply as she walked towards Leona, a small smile on her face. "I guess you're stuck with me. Come on," she said and then started to lead Leona to the far end of the cave. She stopped at the third fire pit. 

"I am Astraia, but you may call me Astra if you wish. What is your name, girl?" She asked, motioning to somebody to another end of the cave. She then looked at Leona with a raised brow. "Well?" 

"Leona." She answered as confidently as she could. Astra was intimidating, more so than she would have thought. Her dark eyes were almost as dark as the Captain's and she towered over her. 

"Leona," she repeated slowly. "I will be your instructor until the Rite. I will be responsible for teaching you how to fight and how to handle weapons. And like Captain Jagen said, once a week you'll step into that ring and you'll fight another one of your peers." 

She paused as somebody walked up behind her to hand her something. Astra thanked the person and then turned back to Leona. "Despite what others may say, I say that losing is alright. I want you to learn from your mistakes. Lose too many rounds, however, and I may not be so amiable." 

"What does that mean?" 

"What does what mean?" Astra arched a brow. 

"Amiable." 

"Friendly," she curtly answered and then knelt down. "Now, take off your fur and your tunic." 

"Here?" 

"Yes." Astra motioned to her quickly. "Just do it. I need to see your back. I can't let it fester if you're bleeding." 

Leona did as she was told and showed her back to her instructor. There was a pause and then felt a splash of something on her back. She yelped with both surprise and pain. It had been cold and it stung intensely. Astra sighed and told her to be quiet, then continued to rub the liquid into her back. 

"It's spirits, it will discourage any infection." Astra explained. When she was finished, Astra wrapped her back with clean linen and then handed her a fresh tunic and a small leather belt. Astra took her old clothes and hung them near one of the fire pits. When Leona was finished she motioned to her, standing up. 

"Enough of all that, onto your first task: land a strike on my face." 

Leona's joints felt stiff and her legs still felt like water. She was sure it would be a lot easier if she had her strength. She commanded her body to move but it only moved slowly; she was clearly tired. 

Her instructor was quick to notice. "Push the pain from your mind, and concentrate on hitting this." She gently tapped her face. 

The task was easy, Leona told herself as she gathered the very last, remaining strength she had from her break, which seemed like it had happened hours ago. 

Leona reeled her fist back and let it snap forward. Astra instantly pushed her fist aside, grabbed her arm, and with her free hand pushed Leona to the ground. When she landed on her back she winced and groaned. 

Astra laughed. "Who are you trying to punch like that?" she taunted with a grin. Leona quickly got to her feet and lifted her hands. She furrowed her brow, still feeling the pain from the last throw. 

When she threw her next punch Astra was quicker; she moved to the side, hooked her opposite arm around Leona's and threw her to the ground again. Her shoulder was the first thing to make contact with the ground. She moaned and squeezed her eyes shut. 

Astra towered over her and laughed. "First lesson: patience. Do you actually think you can strike my face the first time around?" She smirked. Leona felt dumb. Of course, it was like what her father had taught her. 

Patience, Leona thought as her jaw tightened, and she grunted sheepishly. She should have known. "Get your head in the game. Look for openings; take advantage of those before going in for the face. Understand?" 

"I guess." Leona groaned. 

"Not 'I guess' Leona. It's 'yes'. Let's get going now, come on. I'm going to teach you something." 

Leona was hesitant which made her instructor chuckle. "Come on, we don't have all day for you to be like this. I'm teaching you a throw." 

When Leona walked over Astraia quickly pushed her down. "You can do this much easier than I can because you're small." She moved Leona's arm so that her arms were hooked around a single leg. Leona's head rested on the side of her pelvis. 

"Grab on tight. And then step forward and let my weight roll back." 

Leona was quick to execute the throw as she landed on top. Astraia nodded, slipping out of the hold. "That's it. Good job; now, do it again." 

Leona nodded excitedly and went to loop her arm around her instructor's leg but her instructor had different plans. Astra hooked her wrist around her face and rolled Leona's head up, holding her tightly to her chest. 

She could feel Astra's wrist pressing hard against her cheeks. Leona grunted. "You said I needed to do it again!" Leona protested, squirming. 

"I didn't say how." Astraia continued to hold her there. Leona grunted and gripped her instructor's arm, trying to push it away. "This was a fight, last time I checked. And I was just teaching you a move. What did I say? Patience. Look for openings and take advantage of that. Now get out of this. How are you going to get out of this position?" 

"That was dirty." Leona muttered, jabbing her elbow into her instructor's stomach. Astra grunted but didn't move, so Leona straightened her leg and slammed it down onto her shin. The hold loosened almost instantly. 

Astra nodded. "That was a hard one, good. Remember, control and breathe. Don't panic; you can't think when you're busy panicking, understand?" 

Leona nodded slowly, catching her breath. There were no breaks with Astra. Once Leona was down, she had to get right back up. It was all go, go, go. Even when Leona wanted to take a break, Astra wouldn't let her. 

Push the pain away from your mind, Astra would tell her. When Leona continued to stand immobile, Astra would produce her staff and smack her legs. She had never thrown so many punches that didn't land, or been generally thrown to the ground. 

Astra continued to teaching her different techniques before there was a booming voice. Leona barely recognized it as one of the elders of the village. 

"Very good!" There was a laugh and Astra looked up, causing Leona to also turn at the source of the sound. From where she stood she could barely see a wrestling match between a boy and his instructor. 

The boy rolled, grunted, and pushing himself out of a hold he looked at the instructor for a moment before being slugged in the face. The boy doubled over and then quickly charged forward again. When he was thrown to the floor again the Elder simply laughed. 

He patted the boy's shoulder when he got up. "This is how you should fight, recruits!" 

Leona didn't see anything special about the boy. He looked like the rest of the other boys. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. If there was one difference she noticed it was that he was slightly bigger. 

But that didn't make him special. He was just like the rest of them, so why had the village elder said he was so good? She could wrestle with her instructor. Leona was just as good as that boy. 

"I want to see a fire in your eyes when you fight. Intensity!" The elder patted the boy again and pushed him forward to his instructor. "You are the future of the Rakkor; we expect great things from you!" 

Leona looked back at Astra who had raised a brow. When she looked back at Leona, Astra had a smirk on her face. "Why didn't you attack me while I was distracted?" 

"You were distracted." And Leona was also tired. But she didn't want to admit it. 

"So?" 

"It's not honorable. Pa said that if I was to fight anyone, it should be fair." Leona told her instructor who crossed her arms. Astra's smirk turned into a laugh as she shook her head. 

"It's good your pa has taught you such great morals, but your opponent is going to take advantage of you being distracted. It's you or them. What have I said twice now?" Astra looked at Leona expectantly. 

"Find openings and take advantage of them." Leona repeated. Astra smiled and nodded. 

"Good, now let's go." 

The two began to wrestle. Leona was quick to get low, targeting Astra's legs, but as she charged forward like a bull, Astra caught her head and held it at an arm's length. Leona heard Astra's laugh and frowned. 

Leona grunted and gripped Astra's arm. When she found she couldn't possibly push past her she backed up and tried again. She pushed her legs as hard as she could and charged, pushing past Astra's hand and grabbing her leg. She took a step forward, just as her instructor had shown her, but right when it seemed she was going to knock Astra down, Leona felt her instructor fall of her own accord, throwing the technique off balance. 

Astra quickly recovered as Leona slipped away from under her instructor. She heard Astra laugh as she got up. 

"Good!" she said, standing up. "Very well done. Let's keep this going." 

Panting, Leona hissed and tried again, but as she started something caught her eye. When she turned she saw a man adorned with bright yellow armor. His helmet was dark red rimmed with a golden yellow with three golden spikes on each side. 

It was different, more decorated and patterned than the Rakkor armor. It looked… it looked absurd. What did he think he was doing her- 

Leona never had the chance to complete the thought. She felt Astra's fist plow into the side of her face. And as Leona hit the ground her vision blurred and then blacked out.


	4. Chapter 4

“Leona, come on, wake up!” She felt a hand shake her roughly which only resulted in her groaning. She was tired, surely a few more seconds of sleep wouldn’t hurt but the voice was insistent.

“Leona!” His voice, this time, was more of a hiss. She groaned again and when she opened her eyes she was met with concerned grey ones, framed by golden strands of hair. She stared at him for a moment, wondering who this boy could be.

She blinked. “Theron?” Leona rubbed her eyes, wincing when she came in contact with the left side of her face where a nasty bruise resided. A slow throbbing pain followed which made her groan.

 “Leona.” her bunkmate pulled her out of bed and looked behind him like he was expecting somebody to whip something at his head. “Matron Dido has her stick with her today,” he said and that was all the encouragement Leona needed to get up.

Matron Dido was kinder, much kinder than any of the instructors but she was still strict. She had introduced herself as their mother away from home and she was just that. She dressed their wounds, namely Leona’s, put them to bed and got them ready for the day.

She was an older woman, with wrinkles around her face, but she still had the tenacity of any Rakkor warrior. Her silver hair was usually tied into a knot behind her head and her eyes were sharp enough to pierce even the toughest warrior.

As she made her rounds she gently tapped the staff on her hand and surveyed each of the children and it made most of them squirm.

Theron had double timed making his bed fearful of being lashed again. He had already been beaten by Matron Dido one for trying to take advantage of her kindness. That mistake had earned him four lashes and by telling by the welts on his back, her beatings were much, _much_ , harder.

“Get up Trainees! Captain Jagen is waiting and, I’m telling you, he is not a man you want waiting.” She shouted over the creaking beds and groaning children. She kept walking around her flowing blue robe gently dragging behind her until she stopped in front of Leona.

She was done making her bed and was now massaging the left of her face where she had been struck by, none other than her instructor.

“How is your face today, Leona?” Matron asked, her eyes glancing only momentarily at Leona before looking back at all the other children around her. She snapped her fingers at one of them and clicked her teeth at another.

“It hurts a little more today.” Leona admitted groggily. Matron quickly gripped her chin, with her free hand, and turned her head to inspect the bruise. Leona winced.

The punch had gotten her two things: one, a lesson in paying attention and two, an enormous bruise to the left of her face.  And being that it was the first day of training it was both impressive and incredibly embarrassing to have scored the worst injury. She was lucky nothing was broken.

“You’ll be fine,” she concluded, after a thoughtful glance, and then released her face. After, Matron tapped Leona’s waist with her staff which made both Leona and Theron and straighten considerably. “How’s the back, both of you?”

“F-fine!” Theron stammered, the other children snickered and Matron was quick to quiet them with a single look. She then looked at Leona.

“I’m, also, fine.” Leona answered stiffly. She wasn’t weak and she wasn’t going to do anything to disprove that like whine about every injury she had or was going to have.

Matron eyed her for a moment and then nodded. “Alright then.” And then turning to the children she shooed them out of the warm stone barracks and into the cold.

Leona shivered at the howling winds and clutched her arms as she faced the daunting mountain in front of her. She glanced at Theron, who gulped. When he looked over at her his brows were knotted in the center.

 _I don’t think I’m ready today_. His look said and all Leona could do was frown. He couldn’t just go back; Matron would just beat him again.

 “Breakfast after drills today,” Matron started, though it sounded like she didn’t quite approve of the decision. “Captain Jagen also told me that today’s climb has a time restraint. Those who do not get to the top within the time restraint will not be receiving breakfast.”

Everyone’s head snapped back at Matron who had a wide smile on her face when they quietly groaned. “Don’t groan at me like that, if you want to complain go to Captain Jagen.”

No one uttered a sound after that. Anyone who complained to Captain was likely to be flung off the mountain or worse. Leona didn’t know what could be worse than that but she was sure Jagen was capable of it.

“You have an hour. I do suggest you get going.” Matron crossed her arms and watched as they all began to scramble up the mountain. Leona glanced back at Theron, just behind her as she started to jog up the mountain.

Her legs felt slightly stronger after four days but she could still feel the intense burn in her legs as she grabbed every rock to propel her up. She glanced every so often to check on Theron who seemed to falling more and more behind.

“Come on.” Leona panted, motioning to him.

“I’m trying!” Theron gasped for air, quickly catching up to her. She didn’t know how much time she had wasted waiting for her friend but as they got to the top she made sure Theron was behind her.

When they reached the top Astraia quickly pulled her from the edge and sat her down. Leona had only seconds to shoot her friend a tired look as he gasped for air.

“I thought I would have to eat two share of breakfast today.” Astraia smirked, handing her a bowl of soup and a roll of bread. Leona quickly received her bowl and hissed when her hands touched the bottom of it.

“Careful now, you still need your fingers.” Astraia looked pointedly at the sides, where she should have been holding in the first place.

“I can’t just jump up here, you know.” Leona retorted, taking the plate correctly this time. “It takes longer than five seconds to get up here.”

Astraia gave Leona a small challenging look. “Record time is twenty minutes. Maybe you can beat it one day.”

Sure, if she had the longest legs in the world then it was a possibility, Leona thought as she dug into her food. No sooner than her first bite she noticed the others children who had not made it to the top in time. Leona paused and stared.

She felt her gut twist as she saw the different instructor dumping food off the mountain or eat it themselves. The children, on their knees looked absolutely exhausted, their eyes hooded and their sweat dripping from their hair.

One of the last children to make it was a girl, who looked significantly younger and smaller than Leona, was seated on the ground, tears rolling down her face.

Her gut wretched as her instructor poured her bowl of soup out in front of her. The disbelief of how they were being treated was still hard hitting. Each time Leona had seen something different Astraia had reassured her that the instructor knew what they were doing no matter how cruel it seemed.

Leona gripped her bowl tightly, so much that her fingers paled. And as tired as she was, Leona quickly got up and walked over to the small girl.

“Want it?”

The girl whipped her head up, a clear glare on her flushed face. Leona’s eyes widened. “I don’t want your sympathy! I don’t want your pity!” the girl hissed slapping her hand away and turning back to her instructor who was now turned to Leona.

“If you give her your food, she will never learn,” he said, not unkindly through Leona could still detect a warning in his voice. “Go back now, to Astraia. She’s waiting for you.”

Leona couldn’t quite see what she would learn if the little girl starved. She would by more likely to faint than learn anything at all. But she, still, she sheepishly retreated back anyway to Astraia who was waiting for her.

“I knew you would do that.” Astraia didn’t look at her when she sat down next to her instructor. Leona picked at her food, questions buzzing in her mind. “You must learn quickly that right now you cannot afford to help anyone like that. It could hard them, more than it could help.”

She couldn’t see it. If she didn’t eat, how was she going to get through training? How was she going to get through her day? She could wait until lunch but if they did something like this again Leona doubt this small girl would make it in time again.

Leona looked at Astraia for guidance but her instructor only quieted her and motioned to her food. “Just eat now, drills are promptly after breakfast.”

No matter how she looked at it she could see how this could be right. But she didn’t argue, instead she did as she was told and finished her meal, listening to the crying girl sniffle. Leona didn’t have time to ponder anymore because as she stood to adjust her tunic she saw Captain Jagen striding towards them.

It was as Astraia had told her. Drills were very promptly after breakfast with only a few minutes of briefing to let them digest.

“If you don’t remember what day today is, then it will be a surprise for you. For those who do, I pray your instructors have taught you well enough to get you through the first week. If not, you have nine years to train up.”

That was all he said before he started to push them through drills. Captain Jagen was hard on them, pushing their reps from fifty to sixty. Jumping jacks, lunges, leg lifts, squats, jumps, and marching drills seemed to last a whole life time.

Leona had thrown up in the middle of the drill. The soup she had drank heaving out chunks and red soupy liquid from her mouth. The acid seared her throat as it came up but once she was finished she had only a second to wipe her mouth and keep going.

The children groaned around her and some of them even retched but none of them threw up, not like her anyway.

They were permitted a five minute break when they were done but as Leona knelt down for some rest Jagen was already motioning them up and threatening them with beatings if they didn’t listen.

The run. Leona absolutely hated everything about the run. How her feet pushed off the ground, how they would _thud_ heavily back down, how cold hair stung her dry papery throat, she hated everything about it but she had to do it.

They ran around the cave twice which was around twenty miles, Jagen told them, and Leona hated every minute and every inch of the run.

When they were done they were quickly sent back to their instructors. Leona was gasping for air and clawing for water when Astraia walked towards her easily breathing from the run.

One day, Leona told herself. One day she was going to run this as easily as they did and she would be laughing at the recruits. But today was not that day, she said to herself as she gulped down a skin of water.

“You’re going to have to use the washroom like crazy in a few hours.”

Leona furrowed her brows and burped loudly. Astraia laughed and so did the other children. It felt nice to have something cold and refreshing in her mouth since the last thing that was in her mouth was her stomach contents.

Astraia led her inside of the cave and when they neared the middle Leona picked up the pace, she knew where their usual spot was. But Astraia stopped her in front of the ring.

“Whoa there, little rebel, where do you think you’re going?”

Leona pointed to their fire pit and raised her brow, “Training.”

Astraia’s grin could have lit fires. But she didn’t say much she only held Leona in front of her and patted her shoulder. “You’re in for a surprise, little rebel.”

“It’s Leona.” She quickly corrected and watched as the other children gathered around. Then it suddenly dawned on her that today was sparring day. She had concentrated so much on the other things that she had almost forgotten.

Her shoulders must have tensed because Astraia patted them again. “You’ve realized, eh?” She chuckled. Leona fidgeted nervously and pressed her lips together as Captain Jagen took to the center of the ring. He clapped twice for attention and instantly everyone in the room gave it to him.

“Most of you seem to know, but some of you seem _not_ to know-” he pointed a look at Leona, who furrowed her brow and frowned. She, at least, realized what today was. At least give her credit for _that_. “-that today is sparring day. Where I will pair you and somebody else and you will fight in this ring until one of you cannot.”

Leona gulped.

That didn’t sound great. She remembered the two women sparring the other day and remembered the bloody nose one of them got. Was that enough to make them stop fighting or were they supposed to fight until one of them was knocked unconscious? Both options were rather grim and they both made her flinch. But everyone else seemed to be rather excited and unfazed by Captain Jagen’s words.

Jagen continued, “Maybe you will be paired with somebody stronger than you, bigger than you, faster than you, smaller than you. The point to all of this is so that you will be trained to be able to win against any kind of opponent in front of you. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Leona shouted confidently but as she looked around her confidence quickly waned. She was probably considered one of the smaller children, most of them seemed bigger, it not taller than she was.

Astraia had always told her that her size and speed were always advantages in a fight. But if they were as fast as her, it wouldn’t leave her with many options.

“First up!” Leona’s ears perked up, her eyes shifting and her fingers fidgeting nervously, hoping her name would not be called. And when it wasn’t she breathed a sigh of relief. The first pair in the ring was two boys, evenly matched in size and height. The fight was a rather fast one as the two lobbed punches at each other until one couldn’t get up again.

The second fight was the same but much slower with more hesitance and Captain Jagen had to threaten them to move along before he ‘beat their asses’.

Leona’s parents had told her the word ‘asses’ meant donkeys so the sentence didn’t make much sense to her since they didn’t bring any of their asses with them.

When the third match rolled along Leona was sure she wasn’t going to be chosen. Maybe Captain Jagen had let her off the hook for once and stopped picking on her for the day.

“Rebel-”

“It’s Leona.” She retorted for the umpteenth time to Astraia but when she looked up at her instructor she became conscious of how deep the voice was. When she looked back at the ring, Jagen was looking at her with a look that held little amusement.

“- and the elder favourite.” He continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted in the first place. Astraia quickly pushed her into the ring and when she entered the boy was already standing there.

 “Take too long and I’ll beat both of you, we have a long line to go through today, don’t waste my time.” Jagen grunted, clearly referencing the fight from before which took much more than three minutes. After a pause Jagen pulled Leona and the boy closer together.

The boy, he was from the other day, the one the Elder was praising. And even up close there was nothing pronounced about him. He stood just a half a head taller than Leona. Brown hair and brown eyes to match and a slightly split lip from training.

Jagen turned to her, “Alright, _Rebel_.” He said, placing more emphasis on her dumb nickname. “The match-”

Leona felt her gut knot and her heart heavily thud in her chest. Her breathing picked up so much that she wanted to choke when she saw the boy’s gripped fists.

“-begins…”

She looked at him and saw his intense eyes glaring into hers. She evened her eyes and felt her jaw tighten. She had fought before so there was no reason why this fight wouldn’t be like the others. The only difference was that she had learned a few new moves to try. She would win, well she hoped so anyway.

“…now!”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There was no pause before this fight. The boy instantly swung at her, and Leona gasped. It had caught her off guard, but not so much that she didn’t have the sense to dodge.

She jumped back. Her jaw nervously tightened and she gulped. She could feel her body start shaking.

Leona’s mind raced, her heart jetted but her body stayed still, panicked and unsure what to do. This was the first time she had ever had to fight in front of an audience, and it made her nervous. Fear anchored her feet down; she didn’t want to be punched.

More importantly, she didn’t want to be punched in front of _all these people_. She had never had a bloody nose from a fight before and she had been deemed lucky by her parents, but everything about this fight seemed to assure her that if she walked away there would be blood. The image of the woman in the ring with blood pouring down her face anchored her in place.

He lunged at her and this time she tried to move off to the side, but was too slow. His fist connected with her gut and she doubled over, groaning as she fell to the floor. She could see the other children watching her; this had to be the shortest fight yet, one punch and she was already down.

“Are we done already?” She heard Captain Jagen sneer.

“Breathe!” Astraia shouted behind her. Her teeth were gritted. “Panic is _not_ your friend, Leona. Come on!”

Panic was not her friend, Leona repeated over and over again in her mind but it didn’t internalize. Breathe, she told herself next but as he kicked her gut she found it harder and harder to draw any kind of breath.

She winced, and as the boy reeled back to give her another kick she prepared herself the best she could. When his foot connected with her gut, hard, she groaned but grabbed his foot. Her mind reeled for what she could possibly do. She twisted and pulled him off balance and he quickly fell.

Leona took her chance and got up, wheezing for air. When the boy recovered she impulsively charged towards him. She ducked low and launched herself at his waist. Her body shook with adrenaline as she sloppily hooked her arm around his leg.

Leona felt him stagger back and it gave her just enough time to take a few awkward steps forward to topple him over. She crawled away from him, with shaky breaths, ready to straddle him and throw down a few punches, but he was faster.

His leg shot out onto her waist and propelled her out of the ring. Her shaky legs gave way and she tumbled. She saw him walking towards her and Leona commanded her body to move. With a few seconds of delay she sluggishly stood, only to have the boy knock into her.

His hands locked around her waist and he threw her to the ground. Leona felt all the air in her lungs escape at once. He pushed her heavily into the ground in an attempt to get up. She slammed her elbow into his head and he grunted.

“Hold!” Astraia screamed at her. “Hold, get him into a hold!” 

Leona’s lifted her arms clumsily and just as he was about to stand she hooked her arm around his face and twisted her arm back. His reaction was instant. She felt him thrash like she had when Astraia’s wrist pressed onto her cheeks. Leona grunted as he gripped her arm, trying to pry her off.

She wouldn’t be able to hold him for long. He was already able to free himself if he could think this one through. It wouldn’t be very hard.      

Her mind raced, glancing at her instructor whose face was scrunched with worry. How was she to ready herself?

The blow came sooner than she anticipated. One elbow to her gut and Leona released instantly. She groaned, her hands flying to aid her side but when she saw he intended to keep her down on the ground she rolled to the side and got up.

He growled and she steadied herself. How could she win? How did the others win? Punching, they won from punching but she didn’t have the strength. Sure, she could land one, but she was sure it wouldn’t even hurt him.

“Come on!” Astraia’s voice was coloured with frustration. “Leona!”

Leona gripped her hands into tight fists. “Can’t hit me?” She taunted rather weakly. Her voice shook. And even she had to admit to herself it was the weakest she had ever sounded in any fight.

“Once I land one on your head you’ll be finished.” He narrowed his eyes. Leona didn’t doubt his words but she needed him to throw a punch. It was a new technique Astraia had taught her but she’d never gotten the hang of.

When he threw the punch she ducked under him and kicked down, under his knee. He went down very quickly and she quickly joined him. When he turned she grabbed his leg, shoved it near her armpit and fumbled for his Achilles tendon. She pushed his leg forward and kept grabbing at his ankle.

She wasn’t sure how this worked but Astraia had used something similar to it.

The boy tried to yank back his leg but Leona securely placed it at her side, squeezing his leg. Her eyes flashed back and forth between his face and her hands until he finally groaned through his gritted teeth.

At his reaction she squeezed and pushed his leg further, a more frantic motion than a logical one. She barely heard Jagen telling her to stop until he pulled her off.

“He’s done.” He told her and motioned for her to stand as he helped the boy stand back up. Her opponent bit down and hissed as he leaned over onto his leg. When he was steady on his feet Captain Jagen walked to her and pushed her towards Astraia.

 “Surprisingly, the Rebel wins,” He said and turned to her instructor who had a smile on her face. “Be proud, Astraia, I don’t think anyone expected that.”

Astraia ruffled her hair. As Jagen picked the next pair, Leona tried to calm her body but she couldn’t stop herself from shaking.

“I’m rather impressed you tried that foot hold on him.” Astraia proudly looked at her and patted her shoulders. “You did really well. I’m proud of you.”

Leona looked up at her instructor’s wide smile and returned it. She had done well, though she didn’t quite feel like she had done well. She had fumbled through everything and was even given a beating at the very beginning.

She could already see the bruises forming.

“See that?” Astraia pointed at the ring at the smaller fighter. She started giving Leona advice, but Leona couldn’t hear much over the slight ringing in her ears.

Astraia looked at her and ruffled her hair. “Hey, don’t be scared,” she said and gave her shoulder a tight squeeze. “You did great, used his bodyweight as a weapon against him.” 

Leona nodded, panting. Her body was still shaking, adrenaline still pulsing through her veins.  Astraia didn’t look back at her, instead continued to watch as the other fighters got into the ring.

She vaguely heard her instructor say something that this was a good opportunity to see how other children fought. So Leona watched. As one match after another passed her, Leona managed to notice one thing about most if not all the matches.

They all ended brutally, either with bloody punches or knockdowns. And compared to the other fights, her fight could be classified only as gentle. 

Leona didn’t know the boy she’d fought, but she still didn’t want to smash his teeth in and make him bleed. But by the looks of it the other children didn’t seem to share the same sentiment and it made her a little scared. Next week she wouldn’t be fighting the boy she had defeated today; it would be another person and who knew what would happen then?

Her mind had no trouble producing the images of her losing with a broken hand or broken nose. She could only gulp.

And the rest of the matches proved to be only a reassurance of her bloody nose next week. Match after match passed her and she stood there, watching and cringing. She had been sure she would have been used to this by now, but apparently not. Different children left the ring, either bloodied or unconscious. Leona felt lucky that she hadn’t left like those children and had gotten out in one piece.

When the last match was called she found herself looking at Theron and a girl, a little taller than he was. She saw him press his lips together as she grinned at him. Leona’s jaw instantly tightened, watching, hoping that her friend wouldn’t be hurt.

As Captain Jagen motioned for the two to begin the fight she saw Theron throw the first punch. It was easily caught and twisted. Her friend hissed and groaned as his opponent gripped his fist and slammed her own into his face.

Leona instantly tensed, her eyes trained on her friend as he slowly got up. It wasn’t a fight, it was a beat down. Theron had no way back up when he was on the ground. The taller girl would shove him back down immediately.

Frustration simmered in her stomach. She wanted to do something. She _needed_ to do something but she remembered what the trainer had said to her that morning.

“ _If you help her now, she will never learn_.” 

Her brows knitted down together as she saw Theron finally collapse, but instead of stopping the fight, the girl kept kicking him. Leona gritted her teeth and moved but instantly felt Astraia’s hand gripping her shoulder, hard.

Leona looked up and saw Astraia’s eyes looking at her coldly. And like the snow outside it made her want to hide. She had never seen her use those eyes on anybody. But still, Theron needed her help and so she looked forward and tried to shrug her instructor’s hand away. Astraia’s grip hardened to the point where Leona was flinching.

 _No_. She mouthed.

But no one was going to help! He was going to die! She stared ahead at her friend whose eyes fluttered and then finally closed. Jagen pulled the tall girl away and proclaimed her the winner as Theron’s instructor hauled him up over his shoulder like a goat and took him away.

Leona could only watch.

“Well, today’s matches were… interesting to say the least.” Jagen said, dusting his hands. “Some of you did well, some of you, not so much. Good news is that you have time to train up, so get to it.” He said and nodded at the instructors.

When Leona turned she found Astraia already kneeling in front of her. She gripped her arm and shook her gently. “You _never_ interrupt a match, Leona. Understand me?” Leona had never heard such a cold voice come from Astraia and she could only nod.

Why? Leona wanted to ask. Theron was going to _die_ , and nobody was going to help him. She couldn’t just let that happen.

“Good.” She said curtly and then gently pushed her towards the pit. “Well I suppose that was a real eye opener for me. We have some ways to go.” Astraia’s tone changed back to what it was before, and she stood.

“What are we going to learn today?” Leona asked, feeling tense from what she had just seen and what she had just heard. She was confused and didn’t understand why no one shared her sentiment on protecting each other instead of just fighting to the death.

“Punches.” Astraia told her and ruffled her hair. “I’m not going to sit by and watch as some stupid boy knocks you down because you don’t know how to throw a punch or how to dodge one.” 

Leona looked at Astraia. Why was Astraia allowed to protect her, but she was not supposed to protect Theron? It made no sense to her, but by then Astraia was already looking back at her intently.

“Are you listening to me?”

Leona chewed on her lip and smiled sheepishly. “No.”

Astraia arched a brow and chuckled. “I asked you: did you learn anything from watching those fights?” she asked.

 “I’m going to have to get stronger, if I want to keep winning.”

Astraia smiled, “Well it’s good you have that mindset. Once some trainees win their first fight they think they don’t need to improve much.”

“Did _you_ learn anything?” Leona asked, referencing her earlier expression that was unexplainable.

“I learned a lot, but we’ll talk about that in a few minutes. I need to go get something.” Astraia pointed behind her, motioning for her to stay put. Leona knew she was hiding something but she thought it best if she just left it alone for now. It wasn’t like Leona could force her instructor to say anything anyway.

Astraia quickly strode off leaving Leona blinking, realizing that she hadn’t quite specified on what she was going to get. Maybe it was a weapon, were they starting weapons training? A slow smile slid on her face; she was going to learn weapons!

But Leona’s excitement was short lived when she heard someone come up behind her. When she turned she saw the boy, with a slightly split lip, standing behind her. 

Leona’s hands shot up. Her heart quickened its pace as she took a few steps back. He was out for revenge, he wanted to beat her up for winning and make her pay. He was going to knock her out right now and leave her unconscious.

The boy stared at her with disinterest, and she realized that his hands were hanging lazily by his side. “I don’t think we’re allowed to do that outside of the ring,” he said flatly.

“Wh-what do you want?” Her hands were kept up just in case he wanted to punch her out when she was off guard. Her left side was already bruised; she didn’t need the rest of face swelling up as well.

He shrugged and turned towards the fire. “My instructor told me to stand here.” He said curtly, crossing his arms. That was when a man walked out from behind with a small pout over his face.

“I told you he’s not fun. He’s a real stiff.” He sighed and motioned to a person behind her and when Leona turned she saw that it was Astraia.

“Well, we tried.”

“Tried what?” Leona narrowed down her eyes at her instructor and then at the other. He stood at least a head taller than Astraia and had dark skin. What was most evident, however, was the certain warmth Leona could feel when he smiled at her. It made Astraia’s smiles seem more hollow and cold.

“Nothing. So, you must be Leona!” He smiled at her and ruffled her hair. Leona noted the change in subject but decided it was probably not worth knowing. But curiosity gnawed at her. “My name is Kharon.”

“Tried what?” Leona asked again. Astraia laughed.

“Astraia talks a lot about you.” Kharon smiled, and after that Leona’s curiosity about the matter before was trumped.

“She does?”

Astraia answered after with a victorious smile. “Of course. I knew you’d beat up his trainee, or any trainee.” It was more to tease Kharon, but the boy in front of her didn’t see it that way. He growled, a glare forming on his face.

“I thought we were supposed to go train after sparring.” He grunted, his jaw tightening.

Kharon sighed, “All work and no play. Don’t worry, we’ll get there.” He reassured with a chuckle and then turned to Leona. “He’s still being a sore loser about what happened earlier. I think you could teach him a move or two.”

Leona began to beam when Astraia playfully pushed her. “Your trainee landed some good kicks on her. Don’t sell him too short. What’s the stiff’s name anyway?”

“Pantheon.” The boy’s tone was acidic. “Don’t call me a stiff.”  

Astraia replied, “This is Leona.” Turning to Leona, Astraia motioned her forward. Leona slowly stretched out her hand cautiously.

He had better not twist her arm, Leona thought as he looked at it and then finally shook it with a curt nod. Kharon smiled and sighed with relief.

“Fast friends!” He exclaimed and then motioned to Astraia. “I think Captain Jagen wants some of the children to eat first. Want to come get the food with me?”

Lunch? Already? Leona looked at the two instructors hoping they weren’t somehow plotting something else. But Leona wasn’t given a lot of time before the two walked off. Astraia only quickly turned to tell her she would be back in a second before she was gone.

An awkward silence was quick to fill the space between Pantheon and Leona. He seemed preoccupied with staring at the fire and Leona didn’t know where to look.

“You fought good today.” She lamely attempted.

He glanced at her, shrugging again. “So did you.”

Leona scratched her arm, not knowing how else to keep the conversation going. Normally, the other person would talk at her. Leona had never had to deal with somebody as quiet as Pantheon.

“I didn’t mean what I said back there. I’m sure you could have hit me if you tried, I mean I didn’t mean you weren’t trying I’m just saying that if you wanted to-”

Pantheon’s confused brow was enough to shut her up. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Back in the ring.” Leona stuck her thumb in the direction of it and continued after a breath. Panic was not her friend. “I’m sure you could knock me out with a punch, especially if you aimed on my left.” Leona pointed to the all-too-prominent bruise on her face.

“I know.” He smirked, a grin that seemed uncharacteristic of any quiet boy but there it was, on his face. “You’re fast, but you’re not very strong. That’s why your instructor started teaching you throws first.”

A competitive spark instantly lit in Leona as she frowned. “What do you mean? I’m plenty strong!”

Pantheon’s laugh was like a bark, but it was not meant to be totally unkind. “Your punch would probably tickle me.”

“Would not!” Leona retorted, shouting.

“Would too!”  Pantheon straightened himself and tried to tower over Leona. Leona stood unfazed and tried to meet his eyes by tip toeing, but he was still taller.

“Wanna bet?”

“I’ll beat you up!”

“I’ll beat _you_ up! It already happened!”

“Let’s go!” Pantheon growled as the two charged at each other, their hands connecting at each other’s shoulders. The two pushed, trying to shove the other to the opposite walls.

Leona had to admit, she was having a lot of trouble pushing him back. He had an iron grip on her shoulders and he was pushing her, step by step, backward. She had to win this, prove she was strong as well.

That was when she remembered what Astraia had said about using another’s weight as her weapon. Leona quickly bent her knees and used the momentum to throw Pantheon over her. He landed on his back with a hard _thud_.

“I win!” Leona exclaimed, hopping to her feet. Pantheon did the same and shook his head.

“No, I win, because you couldn’t push me back!”

He had her there. She frowned and dusted herself off. “Fine.” She grunted.

After a pause Pantheon crossed his arms, an uncomfortable expression crossed his face. “You’re good. I could help you get stronger if you help me get faster.” He quickly added, “It wouldn’t be anything big or anything.”

Leona looked at him for a moment and after some thought she nodded. It didn’t sound too bad to find some help. “Fine, deal.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, for this chapter! There were exams and then I went away for some time :S hopefully I will be updating more regularly!

**Author's Note:**

> Critique is very much appreciated! Please let me know what you think!


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